SALT LAKE CITY — Not too many toddlers can claim to be world record holders, but 19-month-old Blair Puttkammer helped her mother Alyssa, 33, break the record for the fastest women's marathon pushing a stroller.
According to Puttkammer, a Utah resident, after the first two miles, she and Blair were ten seconds under their goal pace, but at that point, Blair wasn't having it.
"Blair started crying and continued to cry inconsolably for seven miles which was torture for me. She finally drifted off to sleep for three miles, and was happy and calm the rest of the race, thank goodness,” said Puttkammer.
“When we finally rounded the last turn and sprinted to the finish, everyone was cheering. It didn't really sink in that I had broken the record."
Their time of 3:02:54 in the Pacific Northwest Marathon in Oregon on September 16 shattered the previous world record of 3:10:26.
Puttkammer is a single mother, and said she was motivated by coaching great John Wooden's motto: Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
She said she that being a single parent put barriers into training for the race, but kept asking herself what she could do, and hopes that mindset carries her forward.
She adds that she's proud of Blair for putting up with the miles of training and the rigors of the race.
She also hopes that other parents are now motivated to run with their children, and said, "I'd be thrilled to see my record broken soon."
It was shortly after Blair was born that Puttkammer went through a divorce, and longed to run for her physical and mental health, but as a full-time physician's assistant, it was hard to find the time or babysitters.
But once she decided to buy a jogging stroller, she was back on track.
“I cried as I put it together,” recalls Puttkammer. “My whole life had been turned upside down and I was about to get a piece of my old self back.”
